Wishful Winter
by JennaJayfeather
Summary: Secret Santa for xEryChan Enjoy!


**A/N: Here's my gift to xEryChan for WS thread's Secret Santa. Hope you enjoy! Also as a small note I used the Japanese names for Cilan (Dento), Chili (Pod), Cress (Corn) because their names are a bit harsh on the eyes when read together /****and because I like using them *shot*/**

* * *

Wishful Winter

Everything was absolutely perfect at Striaton City Gym, or everything should have been. Pod was trying to light a fire, grinning goofily every time he lit a match. Corn was decorating the Christmas tree precisely. Iris was almost certain he had written down the physics for it and everything in between.

Her stomach growled when she smelled the spice-sweet scent of ginger bread wafting from the kitchen. When she listened closer, she could hear Dento humming a Christmas tune. Even the thought of food and the tiresome-object-of-her-affection couldn't break her out of her sour mood. She glanced sullenly outside the window at her enemy. Soft, powdery snowflakes laced the ground. She shuddered. She hated the cold, she always had.

It had been all set—the Village Elder, Drayden, and Iris, had all been counting pennies to stay at an island resort for Christmas. There would have been plenty of forest where Iris could swing and play with the vines all she wanted. The Elder would have been able to warm her old bones in the sun, and Drayden would do…well whatever Drayden would do on a tropical island.

Iris even invited the Striaton Brothers to come with her, provided they paid their part. However, the three of them would think nothing of it. Dento had adamantly stated that going to a tropical resort for Christmas would be a "terrible, terrible BITTER TASTE" and would ruin the holiday spirit.

Dento was normally a whimsical fellow, but there were some things in life that he was rigid about. Raising the prices on their menu during Christmas wasn't one of them, but going to a tropical island for the holidays was, apparently. She had informed him that they'd still have coffee and pumpkin pie, and the sand _was _as white as snow. Alas, he had shaken his head, telling them to save their money, and that they were all invited to stay at their mansion for the holidays.

After much consideration, Drayden had decided that was the best idea. She wasn't sure whether it was because Dragonite "accidentally" destroyed a large Hydreigon statue in the Opelucid Gym, or he was planning on toughening up his dragons in the winter weather of Striaton City. Or perhaps the sentimentality was getting to him?

Iris bitterly bit her cheek. If cancelling her jungle excursion wasn't enough, the Striaton boys had asked to "borrow" her a week early. To her horror, Drayden thought it would be a great idea, especially since she had been cooped up in the gym for rigorous months. Even the Elder thought it was a nice idea. She had snickered something about how lucky Iris was to have three handsome gentlemen at her beck and call.

They weren't gentlemen. They were rats.

Iris took one last glance at the evil beauty and turned her back to the window sill. The whole house may have had the delightful, Christmas spirit, however, there was no way they were _ever _getting her out into the snow.

"Cookie?" a familiar voice asked her. She flinched and turned her gaze towards the green-haired young man, cheerfully holding a basket of gingerbread men. Her mouth watered a bit, they looked really good.

She gave him a tentative look, and he winked. "Go ahead Iris! They'll all get eaten, anyway." he said.

Iris gulped hungrily and looked at the basket with a small mountain of cookies—they'd be eating gingerbread for a while now. Giving into her hunger, she grabbed one with a lot of frosting. Ravenously, she took a bite. She was sure she got frosting at the corner of her mouth, but she didn't care.

"Do you like them?" Dento asked with soft eyes. Gently, with a warm finger, he brushed it off.

"Dento! They're perfect!" she told him happily. She was feeling much brighter now. The snow and her island dreams were placed into the back of her mind. Dento didn't say anything, just smiled at her warmly and watched her eat.

"Hey! I just had a brilliant idea!" Pod said as he shot up from (finally) lighting his fire. The used matches were placed into a small pile beside him. "Why don't we all go outside today? The snow should be perfect!"

Iris froze. Surely he wasn't serious?

"Mmm~ I think that's a fantastic idea." Dento said while stroking his chin.

Trying to calm herself down, she reasoned that the brothers were most likely talking about _themselves_ because after all, they never have too much time to goof off on their own with their restaurant business, Gym battles and all. Thinking back, she realized that Dento's numerous hobbies most likely had something to do with that too.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Pod's warm hand on her shoulder.

"Here! You can borrow my jacket, it's gonna be cold outside." He said with a wink. Iris shuddered, no way was she going outside, but his plush, bright red jacket did look very inviting. Before she could refuse and tell Pod that she would not step one foot outside, Dento's pale hand gripped Pod forcefully by the bowtie and dragged him into a nearby room.

Iris breathed a sharp sigh of relief as she heard Pod and Dento bickering in the background. Thank Arceus Dento was such a gentleman, _he'd _never drag her into the snow and cold—even if he was the one who wanted her over for Christmas.

It wasn't long before Dento and Pod came back, this time with the green haired boy holding a plush, _forest-green_ jacket and an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Iris, you don't want to wear his jacket, now do you?" he asked with a wink, as he began dressing her into his warm, green jacket.

_That smile!_ _That wink!_ And what just happened?

"But _Dento, _I don't want to go outside!" she said, her voice forming a childish whine. Dento gave her a small troubled frown as he slung his hand onto one hip.

"But you don't want to be by yourself…do you?" he said quietly. For the first time that day, Iris felt incredibly guilty. It looked like if she denied Dento's offer it'd rip his heart out.

"Fine…I'll go outside."

Upon hearing her words, the green haired boy bolted upstairs and came back down wearing a brown trench coat, with what appeared to be a white lab coat underneath. To top things off, he wore a felt Basculin cap which looked like it was biting his head. It was the blue kind.

"Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, let's go! It's a wonderland of snow!" he said enthusiastically as he promptly pushed her outside.

Iris thought that maybe if she clicked her heels three times she'd wake up at home. Or her island resort.

She tried it.

And it didn't work.

* * *

Now Iris was outside—with her enemy. She sighed. Following the old saying of "keep your enemies close and your friends closer," she used ol'-Basculin-cap as a human shield. Both Dento and Pod were throwing snowballs at each other, laughing maniacally, and all together acting like a bunch of little kids.

She could feel the cold through her pink mittens that the Village Elder had knitted for her. Chilled, she entwined her hands into a piece of Dento's lab coat.

"Oh Iris, isn't the snow just lovely today? Just look at how it glistens, just like the mellow taste of grape juice being poured on ice." Dento said as he turned around. He obviously thought she had tugged on his coat for attention. _What a pain._

Before she could tell him that her hands were cold, a snow ball flew and hit him on the back of his head. Dento turned around quickly and glared at Pod. Pod bit his lip, forming a sheepish, goofy grin and pointed at Corn.

Iris could tell that he was irritated that Pod caught him off guard, but he merely brushed the snow off and turned back towards her.

"Hey Iris, would you like to take a walk with me? It'd be nice to get away from those two." he said and pointed with his thumb towards a nearby forest.

She shrugged. There were a few evergreen trees, but mostly just lifeless deciduous trees. It was a huge contrast from the lush tropical trees that she loved.

"Sure." she said.

Dento gave a quick fix of his cap and took her hand and began to walk into the woods. His hand was a lot larger than hers, she observed, especially with the thick black gloves he had on.

She couldn't help but giggle at how mismatched Dento was dressed, especially for his usually neat and orderly character.

"Dento, might I ask why you're dressed that way?" The young Sommelier blinked at her question, and then broke out into a hardy laugh.

"Well for starters, I gave you my jacket to wear, and well, most of this stuff is what I had gotten for Christmas years passed." He said with a small blush and then tugged at his jacket. "After all, I'm a Detective Sommelier, Science Sommelier, and Fishing Sommelier." He winked and addressed each one of his accessories.

Iris smiled.

"And did Pod get you that weird Basculin hat-thing?" she asked, and weird it was. Every step he took it looked like it was chewing on his head. Dento chuckled.

"You know my brothers well," he said and he took off the blue fish cap. "But is it that weird?"

"Well, I _guess_ it's sort of cool." she said, giving it a closer look.

"Good." Dento said, his lips curved into a small smirk and his eyes shone mischievously. Quickly, he tried to place the fish Pokemon onto her head but she nimbly dodged it with a spin.

"You gotta be faster than that, Dento!" she said and broke off into a fast run.

"My Vintage cap is gonna get you, Iris!" he said as he broke off into a not-as-fast-run.

Iris felt exhilarated and didn't even feel cold in the snow while running. It was cumbersome though, especially when her feet would land into deep spots. It didn't matter she guessed, it was sort of fun—in its own way.

It wasn't long before she began to slow down. She loved running and playing but in Dento's jacket and her constant fight against the snow proved to be tiring. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She looked back; Dento wasn't even trying to run but just cheerfully marched toward her with that thing in his hands. Perhaps he had the right idea to not overexert himself.

"Looks like I'm the winner." Dento said happily and placed the cap onto her head. Un-amused she pinched the Basculin's tail with her thumb and index finger and tossed it back at him. He smiled and put it back onto his head.

He chuckled but soon his laughs died off and he stared at the snow.

"Hey Iris, I'm sorry if I ruined your Christmas time…" he said and looked back at her sheepishly. "I-I know you don't like the snow much…I guess I got a little bit ahead of myself."

Iris blinked, she didn't realize it at first, but she hadn't been nearly as mopey as she had been earlier that day—in fact—her day was turning out to be quite fun.

"Naw, you didn't ruin anything," she said as she slung her arms behind her neck. "In fact, it was probably for the best. Drayden and the Elder weren't upset, rather welcoming actually…and I like hanging here….with you."

She smiled a small nervous grin.

He smiled back, with a deep blush highlighting his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" she asked. The poor guy looked like he could explode.

"Iris…we're under a mistletoe." he whispered and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek.


End file.
